Dust guard cover



oct. 14, 1941. H g, HORN mL 2,258,852

DUST GUARD COVER Filed March l5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY.

Oct. 14, 1941. H J HORN ETAL 2,258,852

DUST GUARD Y COVER Filed March l5, 194:0l 2 vSl'lee's-Sheerl 2 6649); J HOE/V BY FP6-.cd2 Peggie/6e ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 14, 1941 DUST GUARD COVER Harry J. Horn and Fred A. Frederick, Lansing, Mich., assignors to Motor Wheel Corporation, Lansing, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application March 15, 1940, Serial No. 324,218

2 Claims.

This invention relates to covers for journal box' dust guard chambers.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a sheet metal cover for a journal box dust guard chamber which is easily and economically fabricated. Another object is to provide such a cover which is readily installed and which tightly closes the opening in the top of the dust guard chamber, yet which is not easily displaced after it has been installed. Another object of the invention is to provide a cover adapted to fit and be securely held in openings of slightly varying sizes in diierent journal boxes.

These objects will more fully appear in the following description, reference being made to the accompaying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a railway car journal box having the invention embodied therein, the view being taken on substantially the line I-I of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on substantially the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional View of the upper portion of the journal box dust guard chamber showing the cover in place;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the cover in the process of installation;

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the dust guard chamber shown in Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the journal box dust guard cover;

Figure '7 is an end view of the cover;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of the cover;

Figure 9 is a plan view of a sheet metal blank from which the cover is formed;

Figure 10 is an end view of the blank shown in Figure 9; and

Figure 11 is a plan of a metal sheet from which the blank shown in Figure 9 is sheared.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, Figures l and 2 illustrate a conventional railway car journal box I to which the invention is applied. Mounted within the journal box II) is a bearing II which receives the journal I2 of a railway car axle I3. At the inner end of the journal box is a chamber I4 having an open upper end into which a dust guard I is inserted. The dust guard I5 snugly iits both the axle I3 and the side walls of the chamber I4, thereby preventing admission of water and dirt into the journal box by way of the space around the axle.

The opening in the upper end of the chamber I4 is closed by a cover member I6 which constitutes the present invention. The cover is a one piece sheet metal stamping of the form shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8. It comprises* a narrow elongated top wall II having a length substantially greater than the greatest dimension of the top of the dust guard chamber. The side edge portions I8 of the cover I6 are reversely bent toward each other and folded nearly flat against the under side of the part Il.

A pair of legs I9 depend from the inner edges of the side edge portions I8 of the top wall. The legs are spaced apart laterally and normally diverge slightly in a downward direction. Their length is less than the length of the slot in the top of the dust guard chamber, as shown best in Figures 2 and 5. Extending outwardly and also somewhat upwardly from the lower extremities of the legs i9 are a plurality of spaced apart projections 20. The entire cover is somewhat resilient, particularly the legs I9 and pro-v jections 20.

The cover I6 is placed in position over the opening in the dust guard chamber I4 by inserting the legs I9 and projections 2li therein and pushing the cover as far down as it Will go. Preferably the cover is inserted in the manner shown in Figure 4, one leg I9 and its projections 2E being inserted first, after which the cover is rocked about the ends of the projections on that leg. When the legs I9 and projections 20 are inserted in the opening in the chamber I4, the former are flexed toward each other as indicated in Figure 3, and the projections 20 are flexed upwardly slightly, which causes the latter to tightly engage the side walls of the chamber I4.

After the cover I6 is thus placed in position, the projecting ends of the top wall I'I of the cover are preferably bent down over the ends of the chamber I4, as shown in Figures 2 and 5.

Thus, it will be seen that the cover is snugly and securely held in place within the chamber I4 by means of the projections 20, which tend to dig into the side walls of the chamber, as well as by the interlocking ends of the top wall I'I and outer walls of the chamber I4. The cover overlies the edges of the opening in the upper part of the chamber I4 and prevents the admission of water and dirt.

The cover I6 can be removed by inserting a suitable tool beneath an edge of the cover and prying the same upward.

It will be apparent that the flexibility of the legs I9 and projections 20 permits the cover to be inserted in openings of slightly different sizes. Therefore, a single standard size of dust guard cover will fit the opening in any standard dust guard chamber. Furthermore, the formation of a plurality of laterally extending projections permits the latter to securely engage the inner Walls of the dust guard chamber even though the said walls are somewhat irregular.

The cover I6 just described is formed from a single sheet metal blank 2|, shown in Figure 9. This blank comprises an elongated central portion 22 from which the leg portions I9 and projections 20 extend. The central portion 22 is Wide enough so that it may be folded along the lines 23 and 24 to form the top wall I'I and its inturned side edge portions I8. The leg portions I9 are bent downwardly along the lines 25 and 26 and the projections 2G are bent outwardly on the lines 21 and 23.

The projections 20 at the lateral edges of the blank are spaced apart by a plurality of notches 29. These notches 2S and the projections 20 are the sarne size and shape. Furthermore, the projections 20 on each side of the blank are located directly opposite the notches in the opposite side of the blank. A reason for this formation will be apparent from an inspection of Figure 11 and the following description.

The blanks 2| from which the covers I6 are constructed may be sheared along the broken lines 3|) from a single large sheet of metal 3| of the proper width, as shown in Figure l1. Since the projections 20 on each blank exactly t the corresponding notches 29 in the adjacent blank when sheared in this manner, there is no Waste except those small portions designated at 32 between the ends of the blanks. Generally the sheet is fed into the blank cutting machine .-1

and the blanks are sheared therefrom progressively as the sheet is advanced.

It is a Well known fact that when a sheet of metal is sheared in a die there is a slight flowing of the metal at the sides which are sheared, and that as a result the edge of the surface toward which the metal ows is sharper than the other. For instance, in the blank of Figure 10, the edge 33 is sharp and the edge 34 is slightly rounded,

or vice versa, depending upon which way the blank is sheared. Therefore, it is preferable that the dies be so constructed that when the blank is formed, the edges 33 and 35 at the same surface of the blank will be sharp. Then by bending the blank in the proper direction the projections 20 will be provided with sharp lateral edges for biting engagement with the side walls of the dust guard chamber (see Fig. 3).

From the foregoing it will be evident that this invention provides a novel and economical form of dust guard cover for a journal box. The cover may be formed from sheet metal with substantially no waste of material. Furthermore, the covers are easily inserted, and when inserted, are securely held in place in the journal box dust guard chamber.

The scope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a journal box having a dust guard chamber and an opening therein defined in part by a pair of substantially parallel spaced apart imperforate wall portions, a cover for the opening which comprises a top wall adapted to overlie the opening and a pair of spaced apart resilient legs adapted to be received in the opening between said spaced apart walls, each of said legs having its free end bent back upon itself to form a laterally and rearwardly extending projection which is pressed into biting engagement with the adjacent chamber wall when both legs are inserted in said chamber opening whereby to resist removal of the cover from the journal box the length of the legs being less than the corresponding dimension of said wall portions.

2. A dust guard as dened in claim l wherein each leg is provided with a plurality of projections and the projections on one leg are arranged in staggered relation to the projections on the other leg.

HARRY J. HORN. FRED A. FREDERICK. 

